The core of my Qualitative Research Project was also the subject of my Literature Review. That question was, "How do iPads improve instruction?"
Please notice I intentionally added the adverb how to that question. This is because I, personally, believe that iPads do improve educational instruction. Of course, while there are pros and cons to the use of 1:1 technology in any classroom anywhere, at the end of the day, I find it difficult to ignore the influence of technology on the youth of today. Furthermore, I find it difficult to ignore that impact and influence of technology on the adults of today.
For example: I am 35 years old and am currently training to be a Customer Service Specialist with Verizon Wireless in Elgin, South Carolina. My first seven weeks of employment were spent in classroom training for the inordinate amount of knowledge I would be required to glean and master in order to assist Verizon Wireless customers with any plethora of questions they may assault me with on any given day upon calling in to the customer service line for assistance with billing, technology, devices, network, etc. One of the first rule of the classroom was that our cellular devices were to be silenced and/or shut down, and out of sight. Keep in mind, every individual in the classroom is an adult. I suffer from Attention Deficit Disorder, but even with medication, I struggled throughout the eight-hour-long days, which consisted of read-along-with-me instructions and exams. Very rarely were we mobile; we remained stationary, planted in our seats, except for two 15-minute breaks and one hour-long break each day. Each of us in the classroom has our own desktop computer; however, I quickly found that was not enough. My fingers itched to touch my iPhone. I wanted to scroll through Intstagram, check my Twitter feed, and see is my sister-in-law had posted any new photos of my newborn nephew on Facebook as she had promised she would. Most importantly, I wanted to text! Yet, in the name of professionalism, I refrained.
The next temptation was the desktop computer I sat in front of each day, where I had access to email and any web page I could imagine, including the pages I had no business visiting (because I should have been paying attention). Unfortunately (and fortunately?) for many of us, our classroom instructor used a program called LanSchool. LanSchool, developed by a company called Stoneware, Inc., is a way for a classroom instructor to monitor everything his/her students are doing. The following video was produced by Stoneware and explains the basic functions of LanSchool:
Essentially, at any moment, an instructor can "spy" and see precisely what a student is viewing from his/her desktop. The instructor also has the power to freeze all monitors. Our instructor would often use this option if she wanted one of my classmates to walk the rest of us through steps to complete a particular action and she wanted to ensure we could all view it.
You may be asking yourself, "Sarah, what's the point? How does this relate to your project?" Well, hold your horses...I'm getting to it. On my own time, I did some research on LanSchool and learned that even during times when my instructor appeared to be checking her Verizon Wireless-issued iPad, she was actually viewing each our monitors, ensuring we were on task. Suddenly, it made perfect sense why I was called on to answer questions so many times that one day I forgot my Adderall and spent the large majority of the day off-task. Apple actually offers a version of LanSchool for teachers to use on their iPad. If my classmates and I had iPads in place of desktop computers, Apple would also have a program for us to utilize. From our iPads, LanSchool would have allowed us to vote, take exams, monitor battery usage, and utilize several other features.
While the data obtained for the second part of this project did not come from my experiences with Verizon Wireless, I now wish that it somehow had. This is because there is an entire Training Department within Verizon Wireless. Each trainer is trained extensively on how to utilize LanSchool. Furthermore, each classroom in the Training Department (there are about 10-12 classrooms) is equipped with a Promethean Flat-Panel Display. Each adult entering into a training classroom at Verizon Wireless, regardless of age, is a student. This knowledge will not prevent a halt in my own learning process; as a matter of fact, I would love nothing more than to join this Training Department as soon as I gain some basic job experience and company seniority. However, for the purposes of this assignment, no data was (unfortunately) collected.
The data I collected came from the following individuals, all of whom are current educators with iPad experience/use in the classroom:
1. Shay Sullivan
2. Kelsey Little
3. Joseph Cussen
The format I used to collect the data came from a series of interview questions I asked the individuals. I asked the same six questions to everyone:
1. What is your opinion of the basis of my Literature Review, which was "how do iPads improve classroom instruction?"
2. How much training do teachers require to use the iPad in their classroom?
3. How have you used the iPad in your classroom?
4. How have students responded to the iPad?
5. What are some drawbacks/disadvantages of using the iPad in your classroom?
6. Did funding play a role in the purchase of the iPads for your school/district?
Honesty has always been my life policy (one of them, at any rate). The truth always comes out, I have learned. Therefore, I must discuss here that unfortunately, I was unable to collect additional data and information from interviews. This leaves me way below quota (my goal was originally 12 interviews). I filled in the gaps and holes with an interview from a student at River Bluff High School (a 1:1 school about five miles from my home), YouTube videos from my Literature Review resource Ron Bosch, and several online resources/web pages. While vastly incomplete, I did learn a lot from the process. As my instructor Professor John Brown so eloquently worded it, "the process is more important than the product."
The Context/Introduction
The core of my Qualitative Research Project was also the subject of my Literature Review. That question was, "How do iPads improve instruction?"
Please notice I intentionally added the adverb how to that question. This is because I, personally, believe that iPads do improve educational instruction. Of course, while there are pros and cons to the use of 1:1 technology in any classroom anywhere, at the end of the day, I find it difficult to ignore the influence of technology on the youth of today. Furthermore, I find it difficult to ignore that impact and influence of technology on the adults of today.
For example: I am 35 years old and am currently training to be a Customer Service Specialist with Verizon Wireless in Elgin, South Carolina. My first seven weeks of employment were spent in classroom training for the inordinate amount of knowledge I would be required to glean and master in order to assist Verizon Wireless customers with any plethora of questions they may assault me with on any given day upon calling in to the customer service line for assistance with billing, technology, devices, network, etc. One of the first rule of the classroom was that our cellular devices were to be silenced and/or shut down, and out of sight. Keep in mind, every individual in the classroom is an adult. I suffer from Attention Deficit Disorder, but even with medication, I struggled throughout the eight-hour-long days, which consisted of read-along-with-me instructions and exams. Very rarely were we mobile; we remained stationary, planted in our seats, except for two 15-minute breaks and one hour-long break each day. Each of us in the classroom has our own desktop computer; however, I quickly found that was not enough. My fingers itched to touch my iPhone. I wanted to scroll through Intstagram, check my Twitter feed, and see is my sister-in-law had posted any new photos of my newborn nephew on Facebook as she had promised she would. Most importantly, I wanted to text! Yet, in the name of professionalism, I refrained.
The next temptation was the desktop computer I sat in front of each day, where I had access to email and any web page I could imagine, including the pages I had no business visiting (because I should have been paying attention). Unfortunately (and fortunately?) for many of us, our classroom instructor used a program called LanSchool. LanSchool, developed by a company called Stoneware, Inc., is a way for a classroom instructor to monitor everything his/her students are doing. The following video was produced by Stoneware and explains the basic functions of LanSchool:
Essentially, at any moment, an instructor can "spy" and see precisely what a student is viewing from his/her desktop. The instructor also has the power to freeze all monitors. Our instructor would often use this option if she wanted one of my classmates to walk the rest of us through steps to complete a particular action and she wanted to ensure we could all view it.
You may be asking yourself, "Sarah, what's the point? How does this relate to your project?" Well, hold your horses...I'm getting to it. On my own time, I did some research on LanSchool and learned that even during times when my instructor appeared to be checking her Verizon Wireless-issued iPad, she was actually viewing each our monitors, ensuring we were on task. Suddenly, it made perfect sense why I was called on to answer questions so many times that one day I forgot my Adderall and spent the large majority of the day off-task. Apple actually offers a version of LanSchool for teachers to use on their iPad. If my classmates and I had iPads in place of desktop computers, Apple would also have a program for us to utilize. From our iPads, LanSchool would have allowed us to vote, take exams, monitor battery usage, and utilize several other features.
While the data obtained for the second part of this project did not come from my experiences with Verizon Wireless, I now wish that it somehow had. This is because there is an entire Training Department within Verizon Wireless. Each trainer is trained extensively on how to utilize LanSchool. Furthermore, each classroom in the Training Department (there are about 10-12 classrooms) is equipped with a Promethean Flat-Panel Display. Each adult entering into a training classroom at Verizon Wireless, regardless of age, is a student. This knowledge will not prevent a halt in my own learning process; as a matter of fact, I would love nothing more than to join this Training Department as soon as I gain some basic job experience and company seniority. However, for the purposes of this assignment, no data was (unfortunately) collected.
The data I collected came from the following individuals, all of whom are current educators with iPad experience/use in the classroom:
1. Shay Sullivan
2. Kelsey Little
3. Joseph Cussen
The format I used to collect the data came from a series of interview questions I asked the individuals. I asked the same six questions to everyone:
1. What is your opinion of the basis of my Literature Review, which was "how do iPads improve classroom instruction?"
2. How much training do teachers require to use the iPad in their classroom?
3. How have you used the iPad in your classroom?
4. How have students responded to the iPad?
5. What are some drawbacks/disadvantages of using the iPad in your classroom?
6. Did funding play a role in the purchase of the iPads for your school/district?
Honesty has always been my life policy (one of them, at any rate). The truth always comes out, I have learned. Therefore, I must discuss here that unfortunately, I was unable to collect additional data and information from interviews. This leaves me way below quota (my goal was originally 12 interviews). I filled in the gaps and holes with an interview from a student at River Bluff High School (a 1:1 school about five miles from my home), YouTube videos from my Literature Review resource Ron Bosch, and several online resources/web pages. While vastly incomplete, I did learn a lot from the process. As my instructor Professor John Brown so eloquently worded it, "the process is more important than the product."